Archive: Opinions

On September 25, the Lansing Star published an online story authored by Dan Veaner regarding sentiment of a newly-proposed store in the community. Regretfully, Mr. Veaner did not reach out to Dollar General to provide us with an opportunity to give our viewpoint on the narratives presented in his story, so I wanted to share the information.

To address narratives presented in Mr. Veaner's story, we first do not feel we are a "dollar" store. While we may have pioneered the concept in 1955, the evolution of our stores makes us today's general merchandise store where we are focused on helping American households save money on the items they need so they have money remaining for what they want. The quoted CNN story and Mr. Veaner's inclusion of it unfairly paints widely-differing retailers with the same broad-brush and does not take into account the positive aspects of Dollar General, specifically.

As we are in an initial due diligence phase for a store on Auburn Road in Locke, it's important to know that we believe we would play a constructive role and represent positive economic growth within the Locke/Lansing community. Our beneficial impact would be reflected through the creation of local jobs and opportunities for employee development and career advancement and through grants provided through the Dollar General Literacy Foundation that positively impact literacy and education initiatives at schools, non-profits and libraries.

Also, the critical role played by our stores has been evident during the COVID pandemic as customers seek convenient options to purchase essential household goods. During this time of national crisis, our customers have relied on Dollar General to remain open and provide the essential items they need at affordable prices in a smaller, less crowded and easy, in-and-out environment. We take this responsibility of service very seriously, and we are proud to have remained open for our customers during these uncertain times. Our efforts were recognized by Forbes magazine, which identified Dollar General among its top 25 corporate responders to the COVID-19 pandemic, and are reflected in a Harris Poll that outlines the essential role Dollar General stores in the lives of our customers.

Ultimately, our customers are at the center of all that we do, and meeting customers' needs is our top priority when choosing store locations. In selecting store sites, we take a number of factors into consideration, carefully evaluating each potential new store location to ensure we can continue to meet our customers' price, value and selection needs.

We are proud to have served Tompkins County residents since 2013. We have identified a location on Auburn Avenue in Locke and hope to expand our investment in the County again soon.

Many thanks,
Crystal Ghassemi
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